Binding

SFCB's bookbinding courses range from the enduring structures of both Western and Eastern traditions to contemporary approaches, with a wealth of bookmaking techniques in between, including pamphlets, pop-ups, exposed sewing stitches, protective boxes, photo albums and more.

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking. It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them work in our bindery.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Have you been dreaming of honing your marbling skills but are unsure of doing it on your own? This workshop will allow you to do just that! Guided by Italian marbler Pietro Accardi, students will have a day to practice techniques learned in SFCB’s Introduction to Marbling workshops and leave with a stack of their own marbled paper.

Break out of the clamshell and slip case box for storing your bookish objects. Using binders’ board and marbled paper, learn to construct a decorative box with two drawers as an alternative storage option.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn the technical aspects of the Kensol foil stamper in this one-day class. The Kensol can be used to stamp invitations, business cards, and stationery, in addition to the more traditional uses of stamping book covers and title labels.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

If you've been looking for a book with a nearly indestructible cover, or just a unique binding, this is your answer! Straight out of a 1970s Italian phone booth, this 360-degree flexible binding offers many advantages because it bends and does not break.

To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, we begin at the beginning. This, the first of our Core Bookbinding series, introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

The accordion book is a versatile structure for artists of all mediums. In this all day workshop, students learn various tips and tricks for creating their own accordion books -- and leave with a variety of samples to inspire future projects.

Using various paper: maps, book pages and vintage ledgers, students will explore the beauty of paper weaving. Participants will leave with a small book of samples or individual pieces of artwork to frame.

While bookbinding and book repair share many skills and techniques, they are also distinct pursuits. This course is intended to introduce the student familiar with bookbinding to key practices within basic book repair.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

If you're looking to add a pop-up element to your book or just looking for an effective way of making an impact on a page then the Turkish Map Fold is for you! This fun structure has a range of possibilities in the book arts world.

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

The right paper loves to be folded, creased and bound, and this course is an integrated exploration of the two pleasures of accordions and folds, and where they intersect. Create five books during this fun-filled session, that covers a wide range of possibilities for these structures.

Have you been dreaming of honing your marbling skills but are unsure of doing it on your own? This workshop will allow you to do just that! Guided by Italian marbler Pietro Accardi, students will have a day to practice techniques learned in SFCB’s Introduction to Marbling workshops and leave with a stack of their own marbled paper.

Developed by book conservator and book arts educator Gary Frost, the Sewn Boards binding is an elegant solution for “lay flat” books. In this day long workshop, students learn how to construct this particular binding, as well as necessary tips for recreating a Sewn Board structure outside of class.

To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, we begin at the beginning. This, the first of our Core Bookbinding series, introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding.

Create a letterpress printed one page wonder. Single sheet books are made out of one sheet of paper and in this workshop students will design and print an edition of one-page folded books while learning to set type and print on a cylinder press.

In this class students will learn how to combine the basic structure of a star book with the theatrical 3D effects of a tunnel book. Through various methods they will discover how build a mobile with a playful sense of narrative.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

In this second Core Bookbinding class, students will create what most of us refer to as a hardbound book. In bookbinding terms, it is known as a case binding; where a sewn textblock is glued into a separate structure known as a case.

Tinker with analog design and produce a small edition with your personal aesthetic imprinted throughout the book. In addition to the scheduled class meetings, students may use open studio time to fully develop and implement decorative type in a small edition of excerpts from a classic text. You’ll design your book’s cover in addition to the decorations throughout the text.

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking. It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them work in our bindery.

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

This introduction to the secondary track in leatherwork for bookbinding helps students cross the frontier of those remote and mysterious tools and techniques commonly used in leather bookbinding today.

The Ideal Sketchbook is modeled on the those used by Wordsworth and Ruskin as they wandered the Lake District to draw and write. Strong, elegant, and pleasing to use, it was the 'daybook' of choice for all the great Romantic poets and artists.

A great class for beginners, this album can also be made on the kitchen table with a few tools. This is a great book structure for artists and photographers who want to display their work in a beautiful, hand-made book.

Looking for a dynamic new artists' book structure? Explore the unique capabilities and three-dimensional movement of the flag book—a structure composed of crisscrossing “flags” or small pages attached to an accordion-folded spine.

This workshop will introduce students to an intriguing historical structure referred to as the Box Binding. This early bookbinding structure, flourished from the 8th-12th centuries throughout the Islamic world.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

A legendary structure, the fire-proof box is the ultimate in Victorian bookbinding craftsmanship. This box structure is strong, functional and elegant. A rare treat, this box is not often made except for special books.

In centuries past, books were sometimes sewn onto cords and then laced into soft covers before being bound for a specific collection or library. In this class students will bind a book using these bindings as a model but employing thick paper as the folded and laced wrapper.

If you’ve been seeking an interesting and elegant way to house your book and paper structures or you’re just looking for a beautiful, non-traditional box for storing things, this workshop is your answer. Spend a day learning to construct a charming and functional hatch-top box with a bottom drawer.

If you've been looking for a book with a nearly indestructible cover, or just a unique binding, this is your answer! Straight out of a 1970s Italian phone booth, this 360-degree flexible binding offers many advantages because it bends and does not break.

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

Combine pop-up and movable book structures to bring dimension and animation to your books. Participants in this workshop will be introduced to the fundamentals of paper engineering and learn about the tools and materials of the craft.

After Orientation to Leather, take the plunge into the world of leather bookbinding with Leather Core 1. In this 3-day workshop students will refine their leather working skills while making a book that advances the skills learned in Bookbinding Core 4.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Paper repair is an essential skill of the book restorer, as many bindings have text pages or plates in need of treatment. In this workshop, Michael will demonstrate effective techniques for treating damaged pages, focusing on cleaning, flattening, restoring loss and mending tears.

Championed by conservator/bookbinder Carmencho Arregui, this book structure can easily be made in a few hours – the perfect thing if you’re interested in making a gift for a friend or a new sketchbook/journal for yourself!

Seventeenth century England was the age of revolution, and the age of the pamphlet. Whether incendiary, radical or politically contentious, treaties published in this format were published in their millions. This new workshop from Dominic will teach you how to make an authentic binding from the period. Working on a facsimile of a historical text, we will reproduce a handsome ‘pastiche’ binding sympathetic with the time.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Children’s board books make a great base for altered book projects. This class will show you how to transform a board book into a handmade art book using collage, acrylic techniques, and stamping. Students will discover how to add playful secret pockets, tags, and pop-ups to add elements of dimension and surprise.

This extension of our popular Introduction to Western Marbling workshop will help students take their marbling skills to the next level as they learn to marble on fabric that can be used for covering books and boxes.

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking. It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them work in our bindery.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

If you're familiar with "book arts basic concepts" but not quite ready to jump into SFCB's Bookbinding Core series, this is the class for you! In this four hour class, students will build basic bookbinding skills with a focus on sewing multiple signature bindings.

Hey you, finicky readers out there! Tired of having to wrestle with your beloved books as you read them? This class is for you. In this workshop, we will take a paperback book and transform it into something more durable and easier to flex and open.